Other Award(s)

To Kill a Mockingbird is truly a masterpiece of American literature.
Along the lines of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Harper Lee presents us with a coming of age story set in 1930s Alabama. Scout and Jem Finch explore their hometown, get into trouble, wonder about the mystery of Boo Radley, and are faced with a great challenge when their father must prove a man to be innocent. Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem's father, is a wholehearted, unprejudiced role model who always stands up for what is right and who anyone can learn a lesson from. Overall, I understand why many schools require their students to read this book as it is wonderful literature for all generations.

I want to start by saying this book is definitely intended for an older, more mature, audience. This book uses many curse words and makes some drug references. “Citizen Illegal” is a series of poems depicting life as a legal citizen citizen of the United States whose parents are illegal immigrant. I picked up this book primarily because it was on the adult reading list in addition to being interested in a different perspective on illegal immigrants. I have never read a book in verse before so I really enjoyed the way the speaker developed. The book was pretty good and I felt brought me a new perspective on illegal immigrants.

I originally purchased Fahrenheit 451 because it was an option on a summer reading assignment; the book seemed interesting based on the description but it wasn’t a book I would normally pick up. Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a world where firefighters no longer put on fires but burn books. Guy Montag is one of these firefighters though he has never really considered why he became firefighter or why books are burned. On his usual way home Guy meets Clarisse, a young neighbor, who is curious about why thing are how they are.
Clarisse asks Guy why he became firefighter and if he has read a book. While at first Guy finds Clarisse’s curiosity foolish, he begins to realize he had been a the fool all along. This book has been eye opening, I have never thought about the subtle censoring in books, and the way many things are mindless, pointless, and short. While with many books are so action packed you can’t put them down, this is not the case with Fahrenheit 451. With this book I was able to slow down, imagining everything detail, and just think about the theme. This book is a classic for a reason, the message is meaningful. The events that created the setting of Fahrenheit 451 seemed a little too relatable, and it really got me thinking about censoring in our society. This on the shorter side and it is definitely worth your time.

In the follow up to To All The Boys I've Loved Before, Lara Jean continues to charm and delight us in another unique story of love. Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky are together-- for real this time. Lara Jean is trying to figure out how to make a real relationship work when another boy who she sent a love letter to-- John Ambrose McClaren, suddenly re-enters her life. At the same time, Lara Jean begins volunteering at a nursing home, and makes memorable friends who help her navigate her high school life. Lara Jean is just as charming and relatable as in the first book of the series and I immensely enjoy her voice and personality. Readers should know that this book focuses a lot on Lara Jean's middle school years, and explores her friendship with Genevieve more than in the first book. By the time the novel is over, readers will feel as if they have known Lara Jean all of her life. Lara Jean's family is still as much an important part of the plot as her relationships are, and fans will be delighted to know that Kitty is just as sprunky and unique as in the first novel. The reason why I only rated it 4 stars is that the book takes a confusing turn with Lara Jean's feelings for John Ambrose. I personally did not enjoy their connection because it felt like she was forcing Peter out of her life for someone who she thought was better. I also felt that she was overly nostalgic and pained about why her and Gen's friendship ended in the first place. All in all, I enjoyed this installment to the series, but not as much as the first one.

The short novel Of Mice and Men by well-regraded author John Steinbeck is heralded as a classic for a reason. The book tells the story of George and Lennie, two migrant workers trying to make a living farming in California during the 1930s Great Depression. George and Lennie are not related; they are friends who travel together to find work. Throughout the novel, they encounter new relationships and people on a new ranch. There is no denying that Steinbeck was an incredibly strong author, capable of painting a rich portrait of life in such a harrowing time of hardships; however, the sad and frankly unnecessary ending of this novel took away from my liking of it, in addition to the frank descriptions of mistreatment of people and animals, combined with the elongated plot contributed to the fact that this wasn’t a book I enjoyed. Readers need to be aware that this is a very difficult book to read, combined with mistreatment of a character with mental illness, women, and animals. Some may enjoy this novel because of the vivid descriptions and powerful characters, however, in my opinion, this book was horribly sad and not something I would not read again.

The exciting sequel to Neil Shusterman's Scythe, Thunderhead, follows Citra and Rowan in a futuristic world ran by an Artificial Intelligence named Thunderhead. In this new Earth, death has been conquered, and there is actually no way to die, unless of course you have been killed by a scythe. Scythes are mysterious people hired by the government to keep the population down by gleaning, which is a polite way to say killing. Everyone fears the scythes. Citra is a newly trained scythe. Her scythe name is Anastasia, because each scythe name is named after someone before death was finished off. Rowan on the other hand is a rouge scythe named Lucifer, who tried out to be a scythe and did not make it. He executes scythes of the new order, people who believe in mass gleanings. Citra and Rowan both are followed in the story, while trying to defeat the new order in the amazing novel: Thunderhead, by Neil Shusterman.

Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians is a thrilling book about a teenage orphan called Alcatraz Smedry. He is passed along from home to home because he always breaks what is most important to his foster parents. However on his thirteenth birthday, an old man shows up claiming to be his grandfather. He kept saying that he was late. Because he had a talent, a talent for being late. And he tells Alcatraz that he has a talent, a talent for breaking things.

Alcatraz is sucked into a world of crystal knights, bad romance novel golems, and dark oculators. In each book he learns a little more about his family and his talent. Alcatraz learns about the hushlands and the free kingdoms and the evil librarians that want to take over the world. He finds out about the dark talent the talent that will break the world. And he finds out the magic of putting footnotes in a book.

This is one of my favorites because of the funny dialog and the narrator. it touches on some funny topics and includes evil monsters. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves magic and a good story. between evil librarians and reckless smedry's this is one of my favorate series. Alcatraz vs the Evil librarians is a steller book.

Hannah Baker, a seventeen year old girl at Liberty High... dead. Clay Jensen
doesn't know what to think when he finds out his crush killed herself. Two
weeks after the night Hannah dies, Clay finds a box on his front porch for
him. Inside the box, he finds tapes. There is no return address so he doesn't
know who it is from, but he listens to the tapes anyway. While listening, he
finds out these tapes are from Hannah Baker, and anyone who got the box of
tapes, were responsible for her death. Clay spends all night listening to
Hannah's story but he wonders if he did anything that might have made Hannah
kill herself. He is unsure if he wants to continue listening to them, but his
friend Tony, who somehow knows about the tapes, helps him listen to them. By
the end of the book, Clay knows what Hannah has been through, and pays
attention to others, to see if they might be going through a tough time like
Hannah did.

I enjoyed reading this novel from Jay Asher for many reasons. One of them was
that this novel helps us understand that there may be more to other people's
lives than we know. It also tells us that anything can have an impact on
someone. Even the smallest things. I have learned to be cautious of what I
say or do in front of others from this book. Thirteen Reasons Why also shows
us the harsh reality of the world. Some schools have bullies, and it is up to
us to stand up to them. This novel from Jay Asher has taught me to stand up
for what is right, and to not listen to rumors. Rumors are rumors. You don't
know if they're true or not.

16 year old Katniss Everdeen has had to fend for her mom and sister, Primrose Everdeen ever since her father died in a mining accident when she was 12. She has had to learn to hunt to keep her family alive with the bow and arrows that her father made before he died. It is the Reaping, and Katniss knows she is in danger of being reaped because of her extra names in the Reaping. After her father died she was forced to sign up for more food so that she and her family could live and she will pay the price now. It is Primrose's first reaping now that she is 12, and against all odds she is reaped. But Katniss volunteers so she won't have to go the the Hunger Games were a male and female tribute for each of the 12 districts are forced into an arena to kill each other in tell one lone victor remains. But when it is time for a boy to be reaped, he has a connection to Katniss' life. His name is Peeta Mellark a boy who worked in the bakery in District 12. As they get to know each other and prepare for the games they start working together so maybe one of them can survive the games.

This bundle of stories is an interesting read. It contains three stories about a writer facing an identity crisis, a hunter gone mad, and a final story about the impact of the hunter’s actions. The way this story is written can be often confusing and difficult to understand for casual readers. I personally didn't like this book, due to the bland, depressing, atmosphere of the setting, and the complexity of the sentences. Often times, it is difficult to tell when the narrator is talking or when he is thinking.
Regardless, I still believe it is a fine read for readers with an advanced vocabulary. Reviewer Grade: 7